Download Banking cases for the American Board of Orthodontics• Initial

SPECIAL ARTICLE
Banking cases for the American Board of
Orthodontics’ Initial Certification Examination
Peter M. Greco,a Jeryl D. English,b Barry S. Briss,c Scott A. Jamieson,d Marvin C. Kastrop,d Paul T. Castelein,d
Eladio DeLeon, Jr,d Steven A. Dugoni,d and John E. Grubbe
Philadelphia, Pa, Houston, Tex, Boston, Mass, Marquette, Mich, Billings, Mont, Princeton, Ill, Augusta, Ga, and South San
Francisco and Chula Vista, Calif
B
oard certification has been widely accepted as
a means of improving the quality of medical
and dental care. Yet, certification of most practicing orthodontists has historically remained elusive
at best. Traditional certification percentages of American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) members before 2005 did not exceed 25% and was only between
13% and 17% in the late 1970s.1 In 2005, to motivate
more members of the specialty to become certified,
the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) established
a new certification process to increase the numbers of
certified orthodontists and yet maintain its standards.2
This process was called ‘‘Early Certification’’ and included the concept of mandatory, periodic recertification to maintain the level of care throughout an
orthodontist’s career. The ABO’s vision was that early
certification, followed by repeated recertification, initiates a lifelong process of learning and self-evaluation.
The ABO later renamed the Early Certification process the ‘‘Initial Certification Examination’’ (ICE). Among
various specific requirements, the ICE uses cases treated in
an orthodontist’s residency with precise stipulations. The
specifics of the requirements can be found on the ABO
website at www.americanboardortho.com.
As the ICE process was used, it became apparent
that residents in shorter orthodontic specialty programs
had more difficulty in satisfying the ICE requirements
than those from longer programs. Yet, studies showed
that younger orthodontists, regardless of program
length, valued certification. After the July 2007 concluFrom the American Board of Orthodontics.
a
President.
b
President-elect.
c
Secretary-treasurer.
d
Director.
e
Immediate past president.
Reprint requests to: Peter Greco, American Board of Orthodontics, 401 N
Lindbergh Blvd, Ste 308, St Louis, MO 63141; e-mail, greco@american
boardortho.com.
Submitted and accepted, March 2010.
Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2010;137:575-6
0889-5406/$36.00
Copyright Ó 2010 by the American Association of Orthodontists.
doi:10.1016/j.ajodo.2010.03.003
sion of the ABO Gateway offer, collected data (from an
independent survey compiled by the ABO) showed that
74% of AAO members 46 years of age or younger are
certified by the ABO.
In 2008, the ABO hosted an Educator’s Conference
to which it invited chairpersons or program directors
from all orthodontic institutions in the United States
and Canada. The ABO solicited recommendations
from the faculties for methods to improve the ICE process. The educators stated that certification would be
more attainable if residents could accumulate cases
that meet the requirements of the ABO Clinical Examination, but there should also be an additional postgraduate opportunity to continue accumulating cases for
certification. This pathway could mollify the discrepancies in the lengths of graduate programs.
As a result of this discussion with the educators, the
ABO developed the ‘‘banking process’’ and accepted its
implementation at its February 2010 meeting. The concept is named ‘‘banking’’ because cases are collected or
banked in 2 stages to meet the ABO’s requirements.
No certificate will be granted until the full requirements of the ICE examination are satisfied, whether
the examinee uses the banking process or not. Most importantly, the ABO still considers the ICE, accomplished during the examinee’s residency, to be the
premier and favored pathway for certification.
The details of the banking process are as follows:
ICE examinees must present a minimum of 3 cases
at an ABO Clinical Examination to initiate the banking process.
If the successful 3-case presentation at the Clinical
Examination includes at least 1 case with a discrepancy index (DI) score of 20 or above, the examinee
need not return for a future Clinical Examination.
The examinee can mail the remaining required cases
to the ABO for scoring.
If the Clinical Examination presentation does not include at least 1 case with a DI score of 20, the examinee must return to a future Clinical Examination for
case presentation with an examiner.
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576
Greco et al
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
May 2010
ICE candidates must display resident cases within 24
months of graduation, but the rest of the case requirements will be accumulated from postresidency practice.
The ICE candidate has 3 attempts within 10 years to
complete certification. Inability to do so will cause
the examinee to revert to the Beginning Certification
Examination.
The ICE Banking policy will be retroactive for
previously incomplete ICE examinees.
ICE candidates, regardless of their involvement in
the banking process, must satisfy all requirements
of the ICE examination including the Board Case
Review Oral Examination to receive their certificate.
If 3 cases are complete but do not include one with
a DI score of 20 or above, the cases will be banked,
and the candidate must return for another Clinical
Examination for the remaining required cases.
If 1 or 2 cases are complete, they are banked, and the
examinee must return for another Clinical Examination for the remaining required cases. These cases
are to be treated in postresidency practice and
must satisfy the same requirements as the incomplete cases.
If all ICE cases are scored as incomplete, the candidate must pursue the Beginning Certification Examination to become board certified.
Requirements for incomplete examinations involving the ICE banking policy are as follows:
The ABO understands that the future of the certification process lies with those entering our specialty. The
ABO wants to enlist the support of both educators and
practicing orthodontists to encourage the ICE process.
Although board certification was previously a process
of a lifetime, it is now a process for a lifetime.
If 4 or 5 cases are complete, the candidate can
mail the remaining 1 or 2 cases to satisfy the
ICE requirements. These remaining cases are to
be treated in postresidency practice and must fulfill the same requirements as the incomplete cases.
There is a 10-year time limit with up to 2 more
attempts to do so.
If 3 cases are complete and include at least 1 case
with a DI score of 20 or above, the cases will be
banked, and the remaining 3 cases can be mailed to
the ABO to satisfy the requirements. These remaining 3 cases are to be treated in postresidency practice.
REFERENCES
1. Cangialosi TJ, Riolo ML, Owens SE, Dykhouse VJ, Moffitt AH,
Grubb JE, et al. The ABO’s 75th anniversary: a retrospective glance
at progress in the last quarter century. Am J Orthod Dentofacial
Orthop 2004;125:279-83.
2. Riolo ML, Owens SE, Dykhouse VJ, Moffitt AH, Grubb JE,
Greco PM, et al. A change in the certification process by the American Board of Orthodontics. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2005;
127:278-81.